Prisoner FF8282 has not been idle during his two years in jail. The disgraced Tory peer, author, fantasist and convicted liar also known as Jeffrey Archer has built up a fighting fund of investments stretching from a retail park in Cumbria to a luxury holiday complex in Majorca, an Observer investigation has discovered. When Archer is released from Hollesley Bay open prison in Suffolk tomorrow he will immediately tap into the £60 million fortune that has expanded in prison along with his waistline. The money will be used in the fight to clear his name, settle scores with old enemies and publicise his new favourite cause: prison reform.

Archer will make a short statement tomorrow before driving to his home in Grantchester, near Cambridge. It is likely to contain a strong expression of his commitment to prison reform following his first-hand experience. The Howard League for Penal Reform confirmed that Archer would be speaking at a conference held by the prison charity in September, if his parole conditions allow.

Friend and former Tory Minister Gillian Shephard said she was 'delighted' by his discovery of the cause. It was 'entirely likely' he would throw himself into working for change in Britain's jails. 'He has so much energy to devote to whatever he does. It really wouldn't surprise me if that was it.'

The Howard League refused to confirm that it would be the recipient of any of Archer's millions, but said he had given small donations to the charity over the years.

Under new rules in the House of Lords, Archer was last year forced to reveal many secrets about his portfolio of investments. In addition to £10m in earnings from his prison diaries, with the next instalment to be published shortly after his release, his investments in property and art galleries will set him up comfortably for a comeback campaign.

From inside prison Archer launched a campaign against Liberal Democrat peer Emma Nicholson whose questions over missing cash from his 'Simple Truth' Kurdish charity led to a police investigation. Archer was cleared but believes he was held in a harsher prison regime as a result. He has made a number of data protection requests to Baroness Nicholson's office in an attempt to gather information she has on him. It is thought he may be planning a libel action against her.

Archer's advisers made sure the fortune earned from his bestselling books was working for him while he was in prison. The latest register, dated 3 June 2003, reveals that one of his best investments was a chunk of land on the edge of Workington in Cumbria, which was at the time part of an Enterprise Zone - a policy introduced by the Tories to regenerate wasteland. Land Registry documents reveal he took ownership of the Derwent Howe retail park in 1995 and after four buildings were developed let them out to MFI, Comet, Carpetright and Harvey's.

One local estate agent believes that Archer has done very well with the property, worth more than £4m, having grown in value over the two years since he's been in jail by many hundreds of thousands of pounds.

One man involved in the deal to sell the retail park to Archer recalls how his advisers would travel to Workington and then back to the Lords to get the peer's advice. They even joked about it, using the title of Archer's first novel, Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less.

He is also believed to have made highly profitable real estate investments in Telford, North Shields, Tyne & Wear and London. Lord Archer also owns a stake in a firm called Winner Land, which owns a holiday property complex in Majorca.

His forays into the art world have had mixed success. He owns two art dealerships: Andartis and Artdeal. Latest accounts for the former reveals profits at the end of 2001 had steadily been increasing and were up to almost £700,000. His other investment was through his son William. They set up Artdeal in 1997, and this year's accounts show that Archer has invested almost £2.5m in the business, although it only has assets of around £100,000.

One business Archer will hope to make more money from in the future is the City investment company London & Boston Investments, run by his close friend Stephen Komlosy. In the two years Archer has held a stake in the company its fortunes have waxed and waned. London & Boston invested in a company called Energy Technique whose shares have trebled since it was acquired. It also ploughed money into an IT company called Netcentric which has seen its share price double.The fall in the stock market hit the firm hard, but this year is looking up and it's set to make good returns for Archer in years to come.

On release, Lord Archer will campaign for the cause of prison rehabilitation - but it seems prison has done little to change his character. Just as he did before he was locked up he will wield his massive fortune to fund his favourite causes and mercilessly pursue his enemies.